1月8日 我的祭是活的吗？

亚伯拉罕在那里筑坛……捆绑他的儿子以撒。（创二十二9）

这件事正反映出我们所犯的错误，以为神对我们最终的要求是死的祭。神所要的祭，是经过死，使我们能行像耶稣所行的：把生命献上。不是“我愿意与你同死”，而是“我愿意把自己投入你的死里，使我可以把生命献给神”。我们似乎认为神总是要求我们丢弃万事的！神纠正了亚伯拉罕这个错误。这门功课我们一生都得学习，因为死发生在我们身上。神从来没有叫我们为牺牲而牺牲。他叫我们有所舍弃，是为了叫我们得着所得着的，就是与他共享的生命。所以，问题是要解开捆锁生命的绳索。一旦藉着与基督同死而解开那绑绳，我们就得以与神相交，把生命献上，作为牺牲。

你若为了要死而把生命献给神，对神是毫无价值的。他要你做“活祭”献上因信耶稣得救成圣而得的一切才智力量，这才是神所悦纳的。

祈祷◆主啊，为着今天那蒙你接纳的事奉良机，我赞美你。为着你所启示的真理，让我每天随时得蒙你的吩咐，我称颂你。

January 8 Does My Sacrifice Live?

“And Abraham built an altar . . and bound Isaac his son.” Genesis 22:9

This incident is a picture of the blunder we make in thinking that the final thing God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, viz., sacrifice our lives. Not – I am willing to go to death with Thee, but – I am willing to be identified with Thy death so that I may sacrifice my life to God. We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this blunder, and the same discipline goes on in our lives. God nowhere tells us to give up things for the sake of giving them up. He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having – viz., life with Himself. It is a question of loosening the bands that hinder the life, and immediately those bands are loosened by identification with the death of Jesus, we enter into a relationship with God whereby we can sacrifice our lives to Him.

It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a “living sacrifice,” to let Him have all your powers that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus. This is the thing that is acceptable to God.